8 Best Things About "Steve Jobs" (First Impressions)

True confession: When I read Jason's breathless rave for Steve Jobs from my sick bed last week I was like "calm down, man,  it can't be that good" Cut to one week later me sitting in the theater, as the end credits rolled: "I gotta read that rave again and nod my head vigorously this time!" While I suspect I don't love it quite as much as Jason, it is inarguably one of 2015's must-see picture and we shan't be annoyed at all when it racks up Oscar nominations in January.

The film goes wide on Friday and trust that you'll want to be there. Here are my 8 favorite things about it at first glance... 

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Oscar's Foreign Race Pt 4: "Hey, I know that face!"

"everything u ever wanted to know about the foreign film category
*...but were afraid to ask"
Pt 1 All 81 Trailers | Pt 2 Women Directors & Debut Filmmakers | Pt 3 Zoology 

Actors You Know & Possibly Love
Successful actors really rack up the frequent flyer miles. The savvy ones cultivate relationships wherever they go. The very smartest of them pick up a second or third or fourth language and actually use those languages in their careers. Viggo Mortensen doesn't have quite the Hollywood career he deserves but notice that he doesn't settle - he's truly in love with his craft and uses his Spanish, English, Danish, and French in films all over the world. When the Danish Connie Nielsen was starting to look basic after lots of unsatisfying American films, she reminded everyone that she was actually gifted by going international with France's demonlover and returning home for Brothers. Actors who are bilingual and never use that onscreen are a mystery. It would be fun to see Sandra Bullock in a German movie or Hugh Jackman or Bradley Cooper in a French flick... even if it was only cameos since we know none of them are hurting for work. Why did Mira Sorvino not really capitalize on her Mandarin during her long dry spell? It's no accident that Charlotte Rampling and Carmen Maura never stopped working or that Kristin Scott Thomas only quit working when she wanted to; they speak multiple languages and make films outside their home countries often.

Let's look at the actors with a strong international presence that pop up in this year's Oscar submitted foreign-language films after the jump...

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Curio: Lunch with Monty

Alexa here. Montgomery Clift would have turned 95 years old this week.  To celebrate, I dug out this 1949 issue of Movie Stars Parade of mine and re-read the interview. The Monty revealed by the publicity machine is surprisingly close to the Monty of my imaginings: intuitive, self-loathing, tentative, magnetic. [More...]

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DVD/Blu-ray: Pick a Disney Prince, Redistribute Mad Men Emmys

Eight questions for the comments related to this week's DVD and BluRay releases. Please do play along with your answers. The more the merrier. We want to see inside your movie brain!

Who is the hottest raven-haired Disney Prince?

Li Shang (Mulan)

Eric (The Little Mermaid)

Aladdin (Aladdin)

Kocoum (Pocahontas)

Naveen (The Princess and the Frog)

Poll Maker

Aladdin the Disney classic is rereleased
Q1 Rank the raven-haired Disney Princes* 
Aloft Starring Jennifer Connelly who is five years older than Cillian Murphy and plays his mother.
Q2 Can you explain Jennifer Connelly's career post-Oscar?
Dope the Sundance hit about geek teens obsessed with 90s hiphop. Very funny if too long / scattered
Q3: Favorite 90s hiphop artist?
The Gallows in which a high school play is the key catalyst for horror
Q4: Aren't they all? 
San Andreas Disaster strikes California
Q5: The Rock is on his way to rescue you. Describe the scenario!
Tomorrowland In which optimism about the future via Americana of the past struggles to make a grand movie in the present. 
Q6: On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you hate it when characters narrate their own adventure direct to camera? 

TV Seasons: Wayward Pines (S1), The 100 (S2), Bates Motel (S3), The Following (S3), Mad Men (Final Season) 
In 8 seasons Mad Men won just 16 Emmys. Which sounds like a lot until you realize that of the other three dramas which are tied for first place with four wins, it's almost the least awarded (Hill Street Blues: 26; The West Wing: 26; LA Law: 15). Hell Game of Thrones which has only won Drama once and been on fewer seasons than Mad Men already has 26 Emmys so maybe it'll be the most Emmy-winning ever by the time it completes its run.
Q7: f you had to redistribute Mad Men's 16 Emmys in house where would they go? 

S1: Six Emmys - Drama Series, Writing, Art Direction, Cinematography, Hairstyling, Main Title Design
S2: Three Emmys - Drama Series, Writing, Hairstyling 
S3: Four Emmys - Drama Series, Writing, Casting, Hairstyling
S4: Two Emmys - Drama Series, Hairstyling
S5: Zero Emmys
S6: Zero Emmys
S7.1: Zero Emmys
S7.2: One Emmy - Lead Actor

*Yes Kocoum counts. He was supposed to become the chief which is basically the ruling class which is the Princes.

Wes Anderson Returns to Animation

Tim here, with exciting news for those of us who regard Fantastic Mr. Fox as a high water mark in the career of Wes Anderson. The Playlist reported on Friday that the director will be returning to the realm of stop-motion animals with his next feature, currently in pre-production. There are no plot details nor a title nor really anything, which I don't think should prevent us from going hog-wild with random speculation in comments. 

My guess: an exact replica of the Vietnam War play from Rushmore, only with fussy animal puppets.

We actually do know one thing: the film will be about dogs. Anderson, of course, is noted for his tendency to kill or otherwise abuse dogs in his movies: The Royal Tenenbaums, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Moonrise Kingdom all feature terrible things happening to their various pooches. It remains to be seen whether the new film represents his attempt to apologize to the noble species of Canis lupus familiaris, giving man's best friend a feature film to thrive and triumph. Or maybe it will just be his first movie in which every cast member dies at the end in a hideous Tarantinoesque bloodbath. But, y'know, set to Alexandre Desplat music.